“The battle for mankind’s future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as proselytizers of a new faith…. The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new – the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with all its adjacent evils and misery, and the new faith of humanism.” (John Dunphy, 1983)

The Sheboygan, WisconsinSchool District backed up a February 2012 decision by James Madison Elementary School Principal, Matthew Driscoll, deciding that a Bible verse is “questionable material.” The result was the confiscation of a second grader’s valentines.It all started when a second grader added the wrong message to the candy he wanted to give out for Valentine’s Day: John 3:16, a Bible verse.

Dexter Thielhelm wanted to put the verse with the candy and give them to his JamesMadisonElementary school friends. Another offending message, “Jesus loves you,” was written on the rolled up Bible verse. His siblings helped Dexter put all the valentines together. Apparently, the problem in public schools is you can use the word “love” but you can’t use any reference to religion.

According to the Wausau Herald, Dexter’s mother, Melissa Wolf, said she didn’t know the Christian message, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life, would be objectionable by the school and was unhappy with the way principal Matthew Driscoll handled the situation.

Even though the School District’s assistant superintendent of student and instructional services said there is not a “specific district policy dealing with the distribution of religious verses on Valentine’s Day,” the reason they gave for confiscating the boy’s valentines was that other second graders expected to receive a valentine, not a “religious verse.” It must be noted that Wolf has a son who attends a private school in the same school district, Lake Country Academy. He had no problems sharing the identical Christian valentines at his charter school.

FREE SPEECH FOR ALMOST EVERYONE

Again in Wisconsin, in January 2012 at ShawanoHigh School, Brandon Wegner, a fifteen-year-old student wrote an editorial column in the school paper in support of children being raised in a home by a mother and a father. He cited Scriptures and other sources to back up his point, including verses opposing homosexuality because it is considered a sin.

Both sides of the debate were printed in the school paper as Weg­ner’s article was “released in conjunction with an opposing viewpoint provided by another student, Maddie Marquardt,” the copy editor for the paper. In her article, Marquardt countered by arguing that “gay couples should be able to adopt because the foster system is broken, and children need a two-parent home.”

A homosexual parent wrote a formal complaint to the school that Wegner’s opinion was “constituted as hate speech,” and some kids might commit suicide because he voiced his Christian beliefs. The School Dis­trict issued an immediate written statement calling the article “offen­sive” and saying it “cultivated a negative environment.” Superintendent Todd Carlson went so far as to call Wegner’s opinion piece “bullying.”

Maddie Marquardt was never questioned about promoting homo­sexual adoption in the same paper. Brandon Wegner’s article was wrong because he used the Bible as a reference, and he supported a traditional family view. This is today’s NEA. In a meeting following the incident, Superintendent Todd Carlson asked Wegner if he regretted writing the column, and Wegner said no. Carlson then allegedly told Wegner he had to be “one of the most ignorant kids to try to argue with him on this topic,” and threatened to suspend him.

Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit public interest law firm and ministry, took Wegner’s case and called the situation “shocking” and “outra­geous.” Liberty Counsel’s Matthew Staver sent a letter to the school stating: “The [District] humiliated Brandon in front of everyone, pre­vented him from his exams, and jeopardized his academic progress.” According to the lawyer, Wegner’s parents were never notified about his meetings with the school district…

Conservative Christian teachers currently in the public school sys­tem find themselves in a quagmire of sorts. They have invested time and treasure in their college education and ongoing training. Some of their families could not make it without their salary. Others have been teaching for years and had no idea about the deeper agendas of their mother ship, the NEA, and the U.S. Dept. of Education. We need to pray for them to stand strong in the faith and be the salt and light Jesus Christ commanded us all to be wherever we work. They may not be able to change the union, but they sure can impact the formation of a young child’s worldview.

There is no easy answer and no quick fix, but getting back to America’s founding ethics, principles, and values would be a good start.

In 1788, Noah Webster said:

“Every child in America should be acquainted with his own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country.”

Yes it is coming fast, Rose Mary! But when we recognize there’s nothing new under the sun and that anti-Christian movements have been alive and well in America for over 100 years, it is Christians who have backed out of culture and allowed the hostile takeover to progress. God bless you and stay strong in the living Word of our victorious God!